Rockets guard John Wall jumped and danced and bopped all over the Rockets’ corner of the American Airlines Center. He also, for the first time after missing five games, played.
The workout celebrating the Rockets’ stunning, season-best offensive performance, was strenuous enough.
A night after Eric Gordon could not make 3s, he poured them in. A night after DeMarcus Cousins could not make anything, he hit everything. A night after the Rockets needed a replay review to escape with a win, they rolled from start to finish, blowing out the Mavericks 133-108 with their top-scoring game of the season.
The Rockets’ sweep of their first back-to-back of the season and their first winning streak since consecutive early season home wins against the Kings. They had never looked better.
Cousins, Gordon and David Nwaba all had season highs with Christian Wood and Victor Oladipo out. Cousins, who came into the game making 26.1 percent of his shots, made 9 of 15, scoring 28 points to match his season high from the 2018-19 season, adding 17 rebounds and five assists.
Gordon’s 33 points on 10 of 17 shooting, 6 of 9 from the 3-point line where he had been making 31.3 percent, topped every game he had but one this season or last.
With rookie Mason Jones scoring 16 points in his first game in his hometown and Nwaba scoring 18, the Rockets bench had a season-high 53 points.
Luka Doncic had 26 points for the Mavericks but played just 30 minutes as the rout was certain with the Mavericks clearly worn down from playing five games in seven nights shorthanded.
Yet, as much as the Rockets offense rolled from the opening tip, with Cousins setting the early tone and the Rockets scoring easily, they also had to repel a Dallas run to within three in the second half.
The Rockets had put up their best offensive half of the season, taking a 70-59 lead into the second half, and it was not difficult to see how. There were many contributors and Gordon’s 3-point shooting especially stood out. But Cousins had by far his best stretch of the season.
He was so dominant that if he flew home at halftime it likely would have still been his best game of the season.
Playing 19 minutes with Wood out for a second consecutive game with a sprained ankle, Cousins had a season-high 17 points and matched his season high of 15 rebounds in 19 first-half minutes, adding four assists. He might have shown signs of how he could produce the night before in Detroit when he had 15 rebounds with seven assists, but he made just 2 of 16 shots. He made that many in less than two minutes on Saturday.
The Rockets had plenty of scorers around him with ball movement sharp enough to have assists on 16 of 25 field goals. They again got help off the bench with Jones and Nwaba each hitting a pair of 3s. Rookie K.J. Martin even added a spectacular blocked shot on 7-4 Boban Marjanovic at the rim.
The Rockets, however, did not have more to show for all that because while Doncic kept the Mavericks scoring, putting up 20 points with four assists, the Rockets spent much of the first half fouling Dallas players going to the rim.
Tim Hardaway Jr., who has often burned the Rockets including in the first meeting this month when he scored 30 points, missed all five of his shots, but hit six free throws. The Mavericks took 24 free throws in the half, as many as Rockets opponents have had in 10 of the previous 14 games. After the Rockets led by as much as 16, the Mavericks spent much of the quarter scoring with the clock stopped.
The Rockets had their best offensive half of the season but were not getting stops. When they stumbled offensively to start the second half, the Mavericks had a 15-4 run to end the first half and start the second, reducing a Rockets lead that had reached as much as 16 to just three.
The Rockets, however, cranked up the offense again. They stopped fouling. They found all kinds of help off the bench. With a 13-1 run to close the third quarter, they led by 21 heading into the fourth.
A night after Silas said he was proudest of the Rockets handling adversity, something they have had ample practice at facing, they handled the Mavericks’ run with three starters out and in the second half of a back-to-back answered with their best.
"back" - Google News
January 24, 2021 at 11:42AM
https://ift.tt/2M2KG7L
Rockets blow out Mavericks for back-to-back wins - Houston Chronicle
"back" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2QNOfxc
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Rockets blow out Mavericks for back-to-back wins - Houston Chronicle"
Post a Comment